Birdhouse kit



Aug. 5, 1969 R. M. MAYES amououss KIT Filed Feb. 27. 1967 R s m E w m V WM M T R E B O R M H mlv ATTORNEYS 3,459,157 BHRDHOUSE KIT Robert M. Mayes, RQ. Box 2299, West Lafayette, Ind. 479% Filed Feb. 27, 1%7, Ser. No. 618,867 Int. Cl. Atlllr 31/00 US. Cl. 11923 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISJLGSURE A knit for fabricating a birdhouse comprising a plurality of longitudinal and transverse wall sections, a top panel, a base panel and four corner bolts for holding the top panel against the top edges of the wall sections and the base panel against the bottom edges of the wall sections. Each of the wall sections, which are all of equal height, is provided with slots for receivably engaging the adjoining wall section whereby the assembled house is divided into a plurality of individual cubicles. Access openings are provided in at least one of the wall sections.

The present invention relates generally to birdhouses, and more particularly to the provision of a kit comprising the necessary structural elements for a birdhouse, each of the structural elements being so proportioned and arranged that the necessary components for a rather large birdhouse can be shipped in a package which is very flat and easy to handle. In addition, the structural elements are arranged so that the birdhouse can be easily and completely assembled in a matter of minutes.

It is rapidly becoming apparent in the suburbs that mosquitoes present a very bothersome problem, especially after sundown when families particularly like to entertain out-of-doors. Since it is known that some birds, such as martins, literally eat thousands of mosquitoes, many home owners desire to construct on their property a birdhouse which will attract such birds.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a kit which can be sold as an article of commerce at a reasonable price, which can be delivered to the home owner in a package which is relatively flat and easy to handle and from which a complete birdhouse can be constructed by the home owner in a matter of minutes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a birdhouse which is durable and which will last indefinitely when subjected to sun, wind and rain.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a birdhouse which is fabricated in modular form and which can be enlarged or made smaller merely by adding or subtracting standard structural elements.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent as this specification progresses.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, the present invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawing, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawing is illustrative only and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

in the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a birdhouse constructed from the kit of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one of the longitudinal wall sections in the birdhouse of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one of the transverse wall sections of the birdhouse of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the birdhouse shown in FIG. 1 with the top panel removed to show the cubicles formed by the longitudinal and transverse wall sections; and

nited States Patent "ice FIG. 5 is an elevation of one of the bolts and mating wing nut used to hold the birdhouse assembly together.

A two-story birdhouse, indicated generally by the reference number 10, having twelve separate cubicles, each with its own access opening, is shown in FIG. 1. The birdhouse 16 is easily constructed from the structural elements included in the kit of the present invention.

Referring more specifically to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the birdhouse 10 comprises a base panel 12, intermediate floor panel 14, top panel 16, six longitudinal wall sections 18 and eight transverse wall sections 20. As viewed in FIG. 4, it can be seen that the longitudinal wall sections 18 and transverse wall sections 20 are so arranged as to provide substantially square cubicles for receiving birds. Specifically, each of the longitudinal wall sections 13 is provided with a plurality of spaced-apart, downwardly opening, rectilinear slots 22 and the transverse wall sections 29 are provided with spaced-apart, upwardly opening, rectilinear slots 24, the slots 22 being provided for receivably engaging an adjoining transverse wall section 20 and the slots 24 being provided for receivably engaging an adjoining longitudinal wall section 18. The longitudinal and transverse wall sections 18 and 20 are all of equal height and the slots 22 and 24 in the longitudinal and transverse wall sections 18 and 20, respectively, have a length which is at least one-half of the height of the wall sections. In a preferred form of the present invention, the slots 24 have a width which is substantially equal to the thickness of the wall sections 18 and the slots 22 have a width which is substantially equal to the thickness of the wall sections 20. Thus, when the wall sections 18 and 20 are assembled as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the resulting structure is quite rigid and will not rack or shift when it is subjected to lateral forces. In fact, if the wall sections 1-8 and 20 are fabricated from materials which are even slightly resilient, the slots 22 and 24 may be formed to have a width which is just slightly less than the thickness of the wall sections received in the slots, thereby providing a birdhouse structure having even greater strength.

The frontwardmost and rearwardmost longitudinal wall sections 18 of the birdhouse 10 must be provided with access openings such as indicated at 26. The intermediate longitudinal wall section 18 preferably should not have openings, such as the access openings 26.

In a preferred form of the present invention, the base panel 12, intermediate panel 14 and the top panel 16 are at least as long as the longitudinal wall sections 18 and at least as wide as the length of the transverse wall sections 20. In FIG. 1, it can be seen that the intermediate panel 14 and top panel 16 overhang the access openings 26 and act as a shed keeping rain out of the openings.

As viewed in FIG. 4, it can be seen that there are four corner bolts 28 and one center bolt 30 which are utilized to hold the top panel 16 against the top edges of the wall sections 18 and 20 and the bottom panel 12 against the bottom edges of the wall sections 18 and 21). The bolts 28 and 30 in the two-story bird house 10 are preferably long enough to extend through the base panel 12, intermediate floor panel 14 and top panel 16. As seen in FIG. 4, there is a corner bolt 28 located directly adjacent each intersection between the outermost longitudinal wall sections 18 and the outermost transverse wall sections 20. In the preferred form of this invention, each corner bolt 28 abuts and extends upwardly along the corner formed by the adjoining longitudinal wall section 18 and transverse wall section 20. With the corner bolts 28 so placed, the resulting bird house structure is made extremely rigid and durable. The provision of the center bolt 30 prevents warping of the base panel 12 and top panel 16.

Of course, apertures for receiving the bolts 28 and 30 must be provided in the base panel 12, intermediate floor panel 14 and top panel 16. Preferably, the apertures for receiving the bolts 28 and 30 should have a diameter which is substantially equal to the diameter of the bolts and the apertures in the top panel 16 should be aligned with the apertures in the intermediate floor panel 14 and base panel 12.

The illustrated bolt 28 in FIG. 5, is provided with a turned down portion 32 at its upper end and a threaded portion 34 at its lower end, the threaded portion 34 being receivable in a wing nut 36. The turned down portion 32 engages and pulls against the top surface of the top panel 16 when the wing nut 36 is threaded on the threaded portion 34.

It can readily be seen that a birdhouse having any number of cubicles and floors can be fabricated by assembling the proper number of longitudinal wall sections 18, transverse wall sections and intermediate floor panel 14 and by making the bolts 28 and 30 either longer or shorter to accommodate the height of the structure.

The bolts 28 and 30, which are actually used as connecting rods since they are held in tension in the birdhouse assembly, may be made out of any suitable rod material. It has been found that zinc-chromate plated steel bols 2S and 30 are suitable for most birdhouse applications.

The longitudinal wall sections 18, transverse wall sections 20, base panel 12, intermediate floor panel 14 and top panel 16 may be made out of any suitable sheet material such as Masonite. It has been found that certain tempered Masonite panels will last almost indefinitely, even when subjected to extremely adverse weather conditions and regardless of whether the panels are painted.

The birdhouse 10, shown in FIG. 1, when constructed for use by martins, should have cubicles with a floor space which is six inches by six inches and with the ceiling six inches from the fioor. Also, martins prefer an access opening, such as the openings 26, which is two and onehalf inches in diameter, located one inch above the floor of the cubicle and centered equidistant from the side walls of the cubicle. Thus, if the birdhouse 10, shown in FIG. 1, is to be used as a martin house, the longitudinal wall sections 18 and the transverse wall sections 20 should have a height of six inches and the slots 22 and 24 should be spaced six inches apart.

The illustrative embodiment of this invention is ideally suited for low-cost manufacturing processes. For instance, if the wall sections 18 and 20 and the panels 12, 14 and 16 are made from tempered Masonite, the access openings 26, slots 22, slots 24 and apertures for receiving the corner bolts 28 and center bolt 30 all can be die punched. Thus, a birdhouse, such as the birdhouse 10, can be provided to the public at a very reasonable cost.

A kit containing all the necessary structural elements for a two-story martin house having twelve separate cubicles constucted in accordance with the above-identified martin house specifications can be shipped in a package which is eighteen and one-half inches by twenty-seven inches by one and one-half inches, the package including the necessary packing materials.

I claim as my invention:

1. A kit for fabricating a birdhouse comprising at least three longitudinal wall sections and a plurality of transverse wall sections, each of said longitudinal wall sections having a plurality of spaced-apart, downwardly opening, rectilinear slots and each of said transverse wall sections having a plurality of spaced-apart, upwardly opening, rectilinear slots, said longitudinal and transverse wall sections being rectangular and of equal height and said slots in said longitudinal and transverse wall sections extending downwardly and upwardly, respectively, a distance equal to at least one-half of the height of said wall sections, whereby when the birdhouse is assembled, the upper edges of the wall sections lie in a common plane and the lower edges of the wall sections lie in a common plane, said slots in said longitudinal wall sections having a width substantially equal to the thickness of said transverse wall sections, said slots in said transverse wall sections having a width substantially equal to the thickness of said longitudinal wall sections, at least one of said wall sections having an access opening intermediate each pair of said slots, a rectangular planar base panel and rectangular planar top panel, said base and top panels having a longitudinal dimension at least equal to the length of said longitudinal wall sections and a width dimension at least equal to the length of said transverse wall sections, said base and top panels being provided with an aperture in each corner thereof, the corner apertures in said top panel being aligned with the corner apertures in said base panel, the corner apertures being located so that, when the birdhouse is assembled, one aperture in the top panel and one aperture in the base panel is directly adjacent each intersection between the outermost longitudinal wall sections and the outermost transverse wall sections, and corner bolts for holding the top panel against the top edges of said wall sections and the base panel against the bottom edges of said wall sections when the birdhouse is assembled, each of said corner bolts being receivable in one of said corner apertures in said top panel and a corresponding corner aperture in said base panel.

2. A kit as in claim 1 wherein the space between said slots in said longitudinal wall sections is substantially equal to the space between said slots in said transverse wall sections.

3. A kit as in claim 1 wherein said access openings are substantially equidistant between each pair of said slots.

4. A kit as in claim 1 including a center bolt for holding the top panel against the top edges of said wall sections and the base panel against the bottom edges of said wall sections when the birdhouse is assembled, and wherein the base and top panels are provided with aligned, centrally located apertures for receiving said center bolt.

5. A birdhouse comprising a plurality of longitudinal and transverse wall sections arranged to provide a plurality of rectangularly-shaped cubicles, at least one of said wall sections being provided with a plurality of access openings for said cubicles, each of said cubicles having its own access opening, all of said wall sections being of equal height, each of said wall sections being provided with spaced-apart, vertically disposed, rectilinear slots for receivably engaging an adjoining wall section, thereby locking said wall sections against racking movement, a planar base panel, a planar top panel and four connecting rods for holding the base panel against the bottom edges of said wall sections and the top panel against the top edges of said wall sections, the top edges of said wall sections lying in a common plane and bottom edges of said wall sections lying in a common plane, one of said connecting rods being disposed just inside each of the four outermost corners of said birdhouse, each of said connecting rods abutting the inner surfaces and extending upwardly along the intersection between the wall sections forming the outermost corner in which the connecting rod is disposed.

6. A kit as in claim 1 in which one of said corner bolts is disposed, when the birdhouse is assembled, just inside each of the four outermost corners of said birdhouse, each of said bolts abutting the inner surfaces of and extending vertically upwardly along the intersection between the wall sections forming the outermost corner in which said bolt is disposed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,522,815 1/1925 George 119-23 1,916,878 7/1933 Anklam 1l923 2,23 6,593 4/1941 Booth 11923 2,915,040 12/1959 Ward 119-23 HUGH R. CHAMBLEE, Primary Examiner 

